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Welcome, fellow genealogists! My blog will teach you about U.S. land records and United Kingdom research. My family has roots in Niagara County, New York; Norfolk, England; and northeast Germany.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Wisdom Wednesday: Brett Family and Non-Conformity, Part 3

Two of Thomas and Martha
HAYLETT BRETT’s daughter were Methodists in this country. Please refer to
previous posts for details of other family members.

Hannah BRETT PARSONS, her
husband, John PARSONS and three children accompanied her father, Thomas BRETT,
to America in 1854. With them were Thomas’ youngest daughter, Eliza, my great
grandmother; and his two sons, Thomas and James. They settled in Niagara
County, New York, joining family member, Rachel BRETT BARKER at first in the
town of Cambria.

Eliza BRETT married
William LEWIS on 17 Dec 1856. The ceremony was performed by a Justice of the
Peace, witnessed by Joseph and Rachel BRETT BARKER. Eliza and William lived in
one more Niagara County town before settling sometime prior to 1870 in the Town
of Newfane. The records of the United Methodist Church on Main Street which
begin in 1863 show both she and her sister, Hannah PARSONS, were active as
early as 1878, while their husbands were ‘probationers’ who never became full
members. (See FHL US/CAN Film 1378854)

The first family event
recorded was the marriage of Hannah’s son, John B. PARSONS in 1874. In 1878,
Hannah, a probationer, and Eliza belonged to the same twelve-member class, led
by H.S. Earl that met in the center of town. Hannah was received into full
membership on 5 Oct 1884 and remained a member until 1905.

My great grandmother was
involved in this church and encouraged other family members, too. Her new
daughter-in-law, Addie L. FISK, wife of William N. LEWIS, and her infant son,
Clinton B. LEWIS, were baptized on 29 Sep 1897. Addie was on the probationers
list for about one year after that; then became a full member in Aug 1898. A
German immigrant niece of her husband joined the church and was married in the
Lewis’ home by the Methodist minister.

Thomas Brett’s two sons’
religion is harder to track. Like their sisters, they were baptized in the
Church of England, according to the registers in Swaffham, NFK. Thomas H. Brett
lived most of his life in Michigan. Civil records of his first wife’s death and
his remarriage do not include information about clergy. His brother, James
Brett, was married by a Justice of the Peace in Ashkum, Iroquois, Illinois
before he enlisted in the Civil War and died at Andersonville Prison Camp,
Georgia.

Methodism: The Methodists trace their beginnings to a popular movement begun in
1738, when John Wesley and his brother, Charles, later the great hymnist,
undertook evangelistic preaching with an emphasis on conversion and holiness.
The brothers established a Holy Club at Oxford University devoted to study,
prayer and serving the underprivileged. They were labeled "Methodist"
by other students because of the way they used "rule" and
"method" to perform their religious duties.

Though both Wesley brothers were ordained
ministers of the Church of England, they were barred frommost of its pulpits because of their
evangelistic methods. They preached in homes, farm houses, barns, and open
fields - wherever they found an audience. Neither Wesley set out to create a
new church, but instead began several small faith-restoration groups within the
Church of England. Soon however, Methodism spread and eventually became its own
separate religion in the 1740s.

“George Whitefield (1714-1770) was a
minister in the Church of England and also one of the leaders of the Methodist
movement. Some believe that he more than John Wesley is the founder of
Methodism. He is famous for his part in the Great Awakening movement in
America...Whitefield parted ways with Wesley over the doctrine of
predestination.”Source: www.christianity.about.com, Mary
Fairchild, Methodist Church History

The website of the
Newfane, New York, United Methodist Church states, “Methodists have believed,
from the beginning, that each of us is called to participate in the outreaching
ministry of Jesus Christ. John Wesley described this work in simple, practical
terms: ‘Do all the good you can, in all the places you can, to all the people
you can.’ Putting our faith into action is at the very heart of our Christian
calling.” The LDS filmed records of this congregation start in 1863, and it is noted
that the name until 1881 was the Newfane Circuit. After that, it was called the
Second Methodist Episcopal Church of Newfane, and still later the United
Methodist Church. See
FHL US/CAN Film [1378854]

1 comment:

The family I am working on were married in the Presbyterian Church, but baptized their children in the Episcopal Church (Church of England) and this was in 1780 in the middle of the Revolutionary War. I don't think they were loyalists. Their children show up in the Dutch Reformed Church and Methodist Church later.

About Me

I began searching for my family in 1994. In the winter, I teach beginner and intermediate Genealogy in Sarasota, Florida. Right now, I am nurturing a career as a speaker and lecturer.
I am on the board of my Florida genealogy society and co-leader of its United Kingdom Special Interest Group. As a break from my genealogy, I researched the friends and neighbors of 'Silent Cal' for my book titled, Calvin Coolidge: At Home in Northampton.